Day 3 is an exciting day because we were tackling the 2 big ones: Shibuya & Shinjuku. After coming out of Shibuya station we found the famous intersection. There you can see forever 21, 109 and other tall tall shopping malls. Being there was so surreal because i’ve only seen it in movies and animes. Damn, i forgot about dancing in the middle of the crossway.
We walked through the streets exploring, and Zh was just as excited as I since we were taking pictures nonstop, not caring about the people looking. We found Parco, where the One piece shop & Biohazard cafe are at. I was pretty excited to see it, and it did not let me down.
*MIND SCREAM* So many One Piece merch i didnt know what to get! I wanted something like a cup or badge or a puzzle. Then Zh found the model ships, and then i wanted those FOR SURE. i was contemplating on getting Going Merry, Thousand Sunny, Moby Dick and Trafalgar’s Submarine. But no way could i fit it all in my bag. So i left empty handed to think about it.
We saw the ‘Tales Of’ fanstore just beside it. Ive only known about Tales of Graces but zh knows alot of them. We went to check out the biohazard cafe after that, but it only opens from 5pm. So we couldnt go at this time.
Hungry so went searching for food, and we went back to Macs because Japanese food in Shibuya was quite costly. The Ebi fillet burger which i had was GOOD. Didnt care what zh had, hahaha. We both got shaker fries, seaweed and butter soy flavoured. both were equally nice. sat there eating while watching people and cars, bliss.
You wouldve thought i would be all over shibuya 109 but i didnt. My priority wasnt really shopping here, but sightseeing. (thank goodness for my boyfriend) We walked all over shibuya aimlessly, popped into several shops, and then started to head over to Ometesando.
After Shibuya, we walked towards Ometesando, because it was said to look like the Champs-Elysees of Paris. But I guess it didnt really because it was Spring. Many luxury brands and Zh remarked it looked like Orchard Road. They have some free wi-fi stations along the roads but it didnt work for us. Many smokers hang out around there too.
It is quite hard to find toilets around Japan, because most shops are individual buildings, so we had to look for big malls usually to go for pee-pee.
We walked around there for quite a while till my legs were tired. Headed towards Harajuku. I was expecting Harajuku to be full of girls with blonde hair, poofy ballet skirts and explosions of pink. But i didnt even see one.
Harajuku, if i remember, has many stem alleys with shops, kind of like our Haji lane but more lively. There were shops in basements, balconies. It feels like you’re walking in a fake movie set because its so clean and surreal.
Many buy/sell stores for branded goods here, so you can sell off your old stuff. I wish Singapore had shops
like these. Zh also saw a shop called Stayreal, which i think he said was by Mayday. I think i recall passing by a shop with long-armed bunnys there.
Went to Takeshita street, which reminded me a lot of a shopping street in Kaoshiung, Taiwan. Winson’s hometown. Full of pinkish shops, and Nigerians on the streets passing out flyers. I read some blogs that said there were quite a lot of them around Roppongi but here and Ueno seemed to have a bit as well.
We reached an intersection which was quite crowded, and lo & behold, i saw the famous Marion crepe & Angel Hearts crepe shops! I was very excited because I wasnt even searching for them, didnt even know where they were. i thought if i wanted to try crepes in Japan, i can get it at any crepe shop if i see it. But here it was!!
Zh asked me which one i wanted, and at that moment it was the biggest question of my life. I went for Marion because the shop was nicer, and there were more people in queue at that time. I got the one with strawberries, vanilla ice cream, fresh cream, and a cheesecake. SUPER SINFUL but once in a lifetime. think it costs 560 yen, around $7.
while i was ordering, i saw Zh buying one from Angel Hearts too. sneaky! his was obviously chocolate. is it me or all the guys i know love chocolate more than the girls i know?!
we sat down on some empty seats nearby and ate our crepes like happy children. whose was better? of course mine, hahaha. JK they were both good.
one thing about these crepes here, they are HUGE. i see the people around me finishing it all, and the trash bins were just paper holders, no leftovers. i was full halfway already, and this little bird came over to our feet chirping, think he wanted some too. i chucked the rest away, but now i feel like rifling through that bin and eating it. (>.<)
at about 530pm we strolled out of Takeshita st, and proceeded to go to the Meiji-Jingu Shrine. At first we didnt know how to enter but Zh found the entrance (thats what she said).
had a feeling it might be closing soon because these places dont open at night. i watch anime. we were walking at a fast pace, and in the distance we saw the security guard pulling the gate (!!). thought that the shrine was closing so we made a dash towards it like lunatics, not caring about the tourists behind looking at us, and being triumphant about making it. so it was kind of embarrassing because he wasnt closing the gate actually, haha.
had a feeling it might be closing soon because these places dont open at night. i watch anime. we were walking at a fast pace, and in the distance we saw the security guard pulling the gate (!!). thought that the shrine was closing so we made a dash towards it like lunatics, not caring about the tourists behind looking at us, and being triumphant about making it. so it was kind of embarrassing because he wasnt closing the gate actually, haha.
the shrine courtyard was very empty, there were the tags people wrote their wishes on, and another courtyard which sold charms. Zh saw them and felt like buying it for his family and friends. the cheapest one was 300 yen, and he wanted to buy for like 9 people which would cost a lot.
we spent a bit of time walking around and letting him decide to buy or not. im not the mystical believer type so i didnt have intention of buying. (sorry mou if you wanted that, but i got you something better hahaha)
since he was halfhearted i told him no need to get it now, we still have lots of chances in kyoto. he was like “oh ya hor! forgot we going kyoto..ok!” sigh….always have to remind him when he leaves his brains at home.
we found an exit nearer to the Shinjuku side, and we walked all the way to shinjuku. tried to hurry because we still had 2 places to go that night. on the way he spotted the Tadao ando building, which you can tell from the signature concrete slabs.
we arrived first at the yoyogi station junction, and spotted a starbucks to get some internet info. I was worried that the Artnia cafe will be closed if we went at night so we had to check.
Last part of this very long day. All the rushing around was very hectic but thats what made me like this day the most.
We had went to the Tokyo Government Building Observatory before this, but all we took were videos so no photos. We were in the elevator up with a guy we saw in front of the Mugiwara store, he was taking self shots in a costume i believe. Zh recogised him and chatted with him. Found out he was from Taiwan here on a short trip, and he was heading to the Korean town after this.
The government building allows you to see all of tokyo from the 45th floor. I wanted to see it at night for the lights but it was a little too dark, shouldve come earlier at sunset but guess it was too much in our schedule today. The tokyo tower was a little far so you cant really see it. They even have souvenir stores there for tourists.
We spent less than 15 mins probably up there, scratched it off our list, and dashed towards the station for Artnia. It was quite a distance away even though its in Shinjuku, so taking a train is recommended.
We reached the stop and briskly searched for the cafe. I was praying it wasnt closed yet. In the distance we saw the lighted up words ‘Artnia’ and people inside, what a relief! And thankfully it was wednesday as they are closed on Thursdays. Zh started taking pictures and we entered like excited children. He said he was going to buy out all the chocobos they had.
The waiters dressed kind of like butlers, they dont know english very well so we had to signal and decipher what each other were saying. Zh initially wanted 2 cocktails, but i felt 1 was enough as we were getting the Cloud parfait and the Chocobo pancakes. We got an Ifrit, which was like a screwdriver. The pancakes were quite filling.
The Cloud parfait was quite a popular item, i see many tables ordering it. Maybe because of the sword on top. I had thought the sword can be brought back, wouldve made very nice memorabilia…but it was chocolate.
Zh was in auntie mode, he kept the coasters and the cards, and he almost wanted the napkins too but we soiled it. After eating it was shopping time for him. There was an adjacent room for the more expensive stuff, perfume, jewellery, etc.
Outside had the stuff toys and kiddy stuff. He ended up buying a large FF poster & 2 mage chocobos. Lugging the large poster around was gonna be a problem..
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